Oil spill threatening ecology of Port Blair coastal belt

Port Blair, Apr 16 (UNI) A thick layer of HSD oil, engulfing the entire coastline of the Chatham Port here, has been posing a serious threat to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' ecology.

''A huge amount of the spilt oil can be seen around the Chatham Port. Since the past one month, the oil has been damaging Andaman's ecology,'' H Arshad, a daily commuter of a passenger ferry from Chatham Port, told UNI today.

However, highly placed sources in the Andaman Police department said the oil spill was being caused by man-made activities.

The sources connected the oil spill incident directly to the murder case of head constable Shaji, who was killed by oil smugglers last month.

Following the murder, strict checks were being conducted to prevent oil smuggling and government-run boats were now unable to pass HSD oil to smugglers illegally.

Sources alleged that the oil from government-run boats was being purposefully drained into the sea to show high consumption of fuel on record, as it used to be recorded before the Shaji murder case.

However, Coast Guard officials, who are trained to control oil spill on sea, were unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, environmentalists in Andaman raised serious concern over the issue and demanded a thorough probe as the massive oil spill could cause irreparable damage to the Andaman marine ecology.

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